


Shiro's Mission

by tavrosroofies (troof)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cotton Candy, M/M, S8 fix-it, anger/comfort, clear day au, heck if I know, small world misery, why wasn't shiro there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 17:55:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17126051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/troof/pseuds/tavrosroofies
Summary: Shiro takes the paladins to Clear Day to help provide security, but he also has an ulterior motive (hint: he gets to take Keith on a date!)If only Keith can enjoy it as much as he does.





	Shiro's Mission

**Author's Note:**

> Everyone's writing their own Clear Day AUs and I'm here like oh well, gotta jump on that bandwagon, because I couldn't resist and I will follow sk into hell

Hunk leaves them behind and then it's only them, left with ten tokens apiece and the entire evening ahead of them. Shiro isn't going to let this go to waste.

“Well, Keith, what do you want to do first?” He crosses his arms and turns to his lover, in no way oblivious to the way the soft lights from the prize booth bathe Keith's figure in a golden glow. He's so beautiful like this, wearing his red armor that still has the dirt on it from his last battle and a pout on his face. That's his Keith.

“I wanna go home.”

“O...kay, that's fair. But we already committed to spending the night here, so shouldn't we see what we can find?”

Keith wants to facepalm. He's heard rumors that it was the captain of the Atlas who agreed to send them on this mission, to provide security for Clear Day, and from the look on his boyfriend's face, it's probably true. Shiro loves carnivals. His eyes are wide and he's looking around at everything like he hasn't seen it before. It's not that interesting, Keith wants to tell him. It's just like a carnival on Earth, except with aliens. And the token prices are higher.

“I guess.” He resigns himself to following Shiro around for the rest of the night. He has no interest in this stuff, so they'll just do whatever Shiro wants to do. 

He doesn't miss the opportunity to cling to Shiro's arm as they make their way through the crowd though. They're not on stage here. Sure, they're in their Paladin armor, but no one's paying attention to them; everyone's wrapped up in their own games. It almost feels private. Shiro covers his hand on his arm with his own, and Keith loosens up so their elbows are casually linked, so it looks less like Keith is holding onto him like a scared child, which he is. 

They try the popcorn (which isn't that good), then Shiro raves about this ride they have to try because the animatronics are spectacular or something. “Come on, Keith, it's a classic.”

Keith groans and Shiro knows he'd rather be providing security. Standing at the entrance somewhere, arms crossed and bayard at his hip ready to go. Staring down every mother and child and extended family member that comes along for the celebration. But Keith'll come around if he tries hard enough. The carnival was a huge part of his childhood when his family was still together, and he's not going to let their memories go to waste.

Shiro takes his hand and drags him to the ride start, and what d'ya know, they missed the line! Shiro smiles judiciously at the attendant, who looks like he's having a bad day, and ushers Keith onto the ride.

This looks...nice. It's a dark tunnel, and an enclosed space, and he's touching thighs with Shiro. This shouldn't be that bad.

Then the music starts.

The ride starts moving and Keith wants to cover his eyes immediately. But then he notices Shiro's expression: he's really invested in watching these animatronics, isn't he? The way they wave and smile and dance...leaning against the side of the car to stare out, Shiro's entranced. He can't remember the last time the captain of the Atlas looked like he felt...joy. Or something or other. But he can't remember that for himself either. It's cute, is all he's saying. 

He's in the dark, but the way the backlight luminesces against Shiro's face, throwing his nose and his lifted cheekbones into stark definition is what he used his tokens for. He's starting to come around to this “carnival” idea when suddenly the ride stops, the attendant announces that it's broken, and he's stuck there, trapped by the safety bar and what might as well be ten hours of chipmunked music.

“I'm in hell. I'm in hell.” If God was real, he would keep Keith away from this mess.

Shiro doesn't know what to say. He loves this ride, but he can see that Keith is losing it, and losing it fast.

Keith's burying his face in his chest and covering his hands with his ears, and all Shiro can think to do is cover Keith's hands with his own before he realizes he's not doing anything. 

They're in a predicament. But what can he do? 

“Hello?” he yells. “Hello?” They're right around the corner from the end of the ride, so if he yells loud enough maybe someone will hear them, and come to get them out…

There's no response. He pats himself down, reaches under his armor into the secret little places he's found places to hide things in his bodysuit when it's mission critical or even less so. He doesn't remember putting anything in there, but it doesn't hurt to check. His hand closes around something small, a cord with two bumps. Headphones.

“Here, Keith, put these on.”

Keith looks at him pleadingly like _when are we going to get out of this ride_ but still does as he's told. Luckily, Shiro has his communicator with him. He can tap into the Atlas and connect to a playlist of all Keith's favorite songs he made when he was bored. He hopes Keith doesn't mind being hooked up through his wrist.

Keith's shocked, at first, but once the shock wears off, Shiro watches his face spread into a slow, easy smile. He tucks a lock of hair behind Keith's ear.

“You're amazing, you know,” says Keith.

“It's just my arm.”

“Well, y'know. Your arm is amazing.”

“Glad you think so.” 

Their hands are clasped together, so it's not a stretch to lean over to meet Shiro's lips and snuggle up to him like this. It's dark, and intimate, and something propels him on, compels him to do this now that they're not in the light of day. This ride was made for Shiro and Keith. This floating pod, in this water, on this broken track. And this moment, only for them.

As far as Keith's concerned, they're kissing to rock music, but then the music changes, to something much softer. He never told Shiro he liked this song. It reminds him of them, when they're together, and he plays it sometimes when he misses Shiro.

It's a love song. Shiro tips up his chin and Keith holds onto that one spot, that bright point of pressure. Shiro's other hand is a mainstay on his back, and he wishes their armor weren't covering them, annoyingly cold and bulbous.

Breath. Pressure. God, Shiro. He claws into Shiro's back as Shiro presses him against the back of the seat, and he loses track of how long they do this. Minutes. Hours. He doesn't care. It's warmth, and his lips are red and kiss-swollen afterwards. Shiro says it brings out his armor.

“Cotton candy?”

“Yeah, Shiro, that'd be great.” Shiro takes in his love-drunk smile and he's glad he got that call to join in Clear Day.

Keith's just grateful to stretch his legs after that “ride.” Cotton candy sounds nice, too. They get to the stand, and Keith goes, standing with his weight shifted to one leg, “I think I have a new favorite ride.” The employee behind the counter dips a cone into a mass of candy just recently spun.

“...Really?”

“Yeah, really. I don't think I would enjoy it with anybody else, though, but I'm only here for you.”

Shiro's glad Keith enjoyed. But the music ended up to be too much for him. “Actually, I could take a break from rides for awhile.”

“Was that last one too much for you?”

“A little, yeah.”

“We should have shared the headphones.”

“It's okay. Wouldn't want you to combust.”

What? No, Shiro thinks he's--“I wasn't going to combust, Shiro. Okay, maybe I would have exploded, just a little, but ‘combust’ is a strong word.”

“What about the word ‘explode?’”

“I said ‘a little.’”

“Okay, Keith.” Shiro smiles and takes the fluffy candy from the confectioner. It reminds Keith of a cumulonimbus cloud, the ones when he was learning to be a pilot on Earth he was told never to fly through. Now they're in space, he doesn't have to worry about that again. 

It's a gorgeously non-threatening pink color, and Shiro's already biting into his side. Keith shrugs and supposes it must not be that bad, if Shiro's enjoying it. Even though they're not on Earth, it tastes like sugar. Pure sugar. 

“What do you think?” Shiro asks, lips sticky with dark magenta residue.

“It's good,” Keith says, smacking his lips. “Shiro,” Keith starts again, looking up at his boyfriend framed so innocently against the stars above, “Do you mind if I pick what we do next?”

**Author's Note:**

> This might end up as a collection of drabbles...I have so much fic fuel from what didn't happen in season 8 and I didn't even talk about the photo booth


End file.
